State University
of New York at Stony BrookUniversity Libraries
The Map Collection
State University
of New York at Stony Brook
University Libraries
The Map Collection
Go to Map Collection Home Page
David Yehling Allen
Revised 4/24/03
Long Island has a cartographic history reaching back almost five centuries. Here can be found a sample of the many ways in which mapmakers have shown Long Island--ranging in time from the first explorers' charts to recent digital maps.
These maps were made for a variety of purposes. Among their many functions were to guide sea captains, to depict military engagements, to establish property boundaries, to show routes for travelers, to sell real estate, and to depict soil conditions for farmers. They should be of interest to historians, archaeologists, environmentalists, surveyors, educators, real estate professionals, and anyone interested in Long Island's past.
The design of this Web site is based on the author's book Long Island Maps and Their Makers: Five Centuries of Cartographic History (ISBN 0-8488-1804-0). The maps are listed in chronological order and arranged according to chapter titles of the book. Information in depth about these and many other Long Island maps can be found in the printed version. This book is no longer in print, but an online version is under preparation.
Click on a chapter title for a list of the maps for each chapter
1. Long Island Unveiled: Early Colonial Maps.
2. The Cartography of Conflict, 1750-1783.
3. The Age of Simeon De Witt (Along with Edmund Marsh Blunt and Several Others).
4. Long Island Triangulated: Nineteenth-Century Maps of the U.S. Coast Survey.
5. The Cartography of Commerce: Property Maps and Atlases.
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to Map Collection Home Page (SUNY Stony Brook)